Russian Icons

St. Arthemius

Notes:
St. Arthemius (from the Deesis tier) The St. Cyril of Byelozersk Monastery "St. Artemis" is one of twenty-one surviving icons from the Deesis tier of the Cathedral of the Dormition at the St. Cyril of Byelozersk Monastery. An astounding sixty pieces which composed the monumental iconostasis are still in existence and provide valuable insight into both the hierarchical canon of the iconostasis and the artistic program followed by a large workshop of icon painters. This group would have included artists from Novgorod and Moscow as well as a few local hands. The Festival tier at the Cathedral of the Dormition was made up of the twelve major festivals of the Church along with twelve panels which illustrated the events of the last week of Christ's life. The final icon was a portrait icon of St. Alimpii the Stylite. The Deesis tier contained twenty-one icons while the Prophet tier held ten panels displaying half-length portraits of groups of Old Testament prophets (see "Nathan, Haggai, and Samuel," "Micah, Elijah, and Gideon," and others in this ImageBase).